Quebec reports C. difficile mortality statistics

Quebec's Ministry of Health reports that 165 patients died after contracting Clostridium difficile infection in hospitals across the province from late August to December 2004.

The province released its third surveillance report concerning C. difficile in June. It relied on statistics submitted by 85 of 88 participating hospitals (regional details are posted at www.cmaj.ca).

From August 22 to December 11, C. difficile directly caused 71 deaths and contributed to 94 others, the report says. Another 126 patients had to undergo colectomy, and 399 patients were admitted to ICUs.

The mortality rate among the 1812 C. difficile cases reported during that period was 9.1%.

The province also reported that in 12 hospitals studied by Dr. Vivian Loo, director of infection control at the McGill University Health Centre, C. difficile infections were down by 40% in early 2005, over the same period in 2004.

The stabilization of those results over the course of the winter has demonstrated that prevention measures taken by infection control teams in those hospitals are working, Dr. Alain Poirier, Quebec's top public health official, said in a news release.

“The simple fact of publishing these figures on a regular basis … has already resulted in an extremely beneficial modification of the culture to reinforce best clinical practices and to better control nosocomial infections,” Poirier said.